IT can be all too easy to throw stones and cast aspersions but, as we know, sport has a great and perhaps unrivalled power to unite.
All across the island today there will be huge swathes of people – from the very young to the more mature – getting kitted out to represent with pride their school or team, whether it be in a competitive sense or simply for fun and fitness.
Be it in soccer, rugby, hockey, athletics, rowing or anything else, people of all religions and backgrounds come together with a common goal of being better than the team or person in front of that at that given moment.
It’s an us-against-them thing which, by definition, is unifying and, if successful, boundlessly rewarding.
GAA retains a special place at the heart of that endeavour and within communities, even long after the glamour of the county championships has played out and Sam Maguire, Liam McCarthy or O’Duffy trophies have been handed over.
Every weekend, and on many weekdays too, you will see games and individual contributors who make us proud to be from where we’re from.
Last night was another such appreciative occasion as we held The Irish News Ulster All-Stars at the ICC Belfast.
The annual event ends with the best of the best in Ulster not only presented with tangible prizes but ennobled with an award, a cognomen, that money can’t buy for only their exploits hewn in hours and hours of training and practice can achieve an All-Star.
Tens of thousands of votes were cast by our readers – both in print and online – to ensure that the voice of the people was heard.
We were able to say with some certainty that those who collected All-Stars last night did so with the full endorsement of the public.
The ceremony is a proud one for us at The Irish News and a great deal of colleagues here deserve huge credit for their efforts in making it the success that it was once again.
At the awards we acknowledged and rewarded the players across the codes who have performed to the highest of standards on a consistent basis across the past 12 months.
But a great deal more people are out there day after day with their clubs and schools, in every county, volunteering their time and motivating and coaching the All-Stars of tomorrow.
Those volunteers are the lifeblood of the GAA and, by extension, a great many of our communities the length and breadth of Ireland. Without them, simply put, it just wouldn’t be the same.
All of their efforts deserve great praise and acknowledgment so, to the Gaels of Ulster, we salute you – you are all stars.
